I've been going to the Colorado Renaissance Festival for four years and have recently joined a group called the Crimson Marque. Already the forums are becoming unbearable to me, so I'll be posting my pictures and stories of me good ol' days of being a pirate.
My pirate days actually began when I was just a small herring. In southern California a group of medieval/renaissance hobbiest started the very first ren faire in 1969. A year later my family moved to Budd Lake, NJ. That summer of 1970, in what was then Stanhope State Park (a beautiful river with lots of picnic tables scattered along the banks), a new group was born, the Society for Creative Acronism (SCA). This one day event in NJ in the summer of 1970 was my first ren faire. I was just a small seven year old, but I got to sit with the queen for quite awhile because I won a blue ribbon for my bread. Of course, the one picture of me sitting on the grand lady's lap was forever lost when we moved to El Paso, TX two years later.
El Paso didn't have a ren faire, but up the road in Las Cruces there was a weekend event that corresponded with the Shakespeare festival. In a new handmade costume that my mother and I worked on, I proudly walked through the crowds with a basket of dried flowers. You see, except for the elaborately dressed court and a few ushers for the Shakespeare plays, I was the only other one dressed! That faire closed down the next year and the festival moved to a new/improved indoor theater at NMSU. No more dressing up for awhile. And of course, my parents didn't even bring a camera that day, so no picture of me in that wonderful burgundy velvet dress!
After college I moved to Grand Canyon, AZ (yep THE Grand Canyon) to work on the south rim. I heard about the Arizona ren faire and, once again, my sewing machine started flying. This time a green outfit that I still wear today. Unfortunately, by the time the faire came along I was broke, spending my money on the costume. And none of us in the Canyon knew where it was(we didn't have internet to make quick look-ups). No one wanted to share a hotel room or a ride to it, so I put the costume in a box in my closet. I wore it once for a Halloween party wearing sneakers due to a bruised toe and no pirate boots. Until....
I moved to Aurora, CO in Dec. 1995. It was the most miserable Christmas I ever had! No phone, internet, newspaper, TV... boy, it really is miserable without the luxuries of life! I did have my sewing machine and started a fantastic blue/gold italian renaissance costume just for fun (or boredom). A few years later it was only half finished when I found a Star Wars group, just what I had been looking for all my life! It so happened that many of the members of that group were also members of various pirate groups at the Colorado ren faire. BINGO! I finally found a happy use for my half-made costumes (and I had aquired some pirate boots by then, too!). I decided to make a captain's coat early on, but couldn't find a good pattern to even convert. Until....
"Pirates of the Carribean" came out at about the same time I started going to the CO ren faire. All of a sudden, Elizabethan costumes were out and Colonial and Italian dress were at the forefront. Yipeee! I could finish and actually wear my blue/gold outfit! To my utter surprise, that same year Simplicity came out with the pirate's capt. coat! I think I was first in line for that one, or damn close to it! It took me a year, but I made mine out of black velveteen and silver braids/buttons. I still have to line it, but after three seasons of heavy use, only one sleeve braid is coming loose. It's been through heat, hail, rain, and a freak summer snowstorm. It's kept me warm and kept my skin from sunburning. It's been sort of my "pirate blankie". Because it's black, I was dubbed early on "Black Jack".
My pirate days actually began when I was just a small herring. In southern California a group of medieval/renaissance hobbiest started the very first ren faire in 1969. A year later my family moved to Budd Lake, NJ. That summer of 1970, in what was then Stanhope State Park (a beautiful river with lots of picnic tables scattered along the banks), a new group was born, the Society for Creative Acronism (SCA). This one day event in NJ in the summer of 1970 was my first ren faire. I was just a small seven year old, but I got to sit with the queen for quite awhile because I won a blue ribbon for my bread. Of course, the one picture of me sitting on the grand lady's lap was forever lost when we moved to El Paso, TX two years later.
El Paso didn't have a ren faire, but up the road in Las Cruces there was a weekend event that corresponded with the Shakespeare festival. In a new handmade costume that my mother and I worked on, I proudly walked through the crowds with a basket of dried flowers. You see, except for the elaborately dressed court and a few ushers for the Shakespeare plays, I was the only other one dressed! That faire closed down the next year and the festival moved to a new/improved indoor theater at NMSU. No more dressing up for awhile. And of course, my parents didn't even bring a camera that day, so no picture of me in that wonderful burgundy velvet dress!
After college I moved to Grand Canyon, AZ (yep THE Grand Canyon) to work on the south rim. I heard about the Arizona ren faire and, once again, my sewing machine started flying. This time a green outfit that I still wear today. Unfortunately, by the time the faire came along I was broke, spending my money on the costume. And none of us in the Canyon knew where it was(we didn't have internet to make quick look-ups). No one wanted to share a hotel room or a ride to it, so I put the costume in a box in my closet. I wore it once for a Halloween party wearing sneakers due to a bruised toe and no pirate boots. Until....
I moved to Aurora, CO in Dec. 1995. It was the most miserable Christmas I ever had! No phone, internet, newspaper, TV... boy, it really is miserable without the luxuries of life! I did have my sewing machine and started a fantastic blue/gold italian renaissance costume just for fun (or boredom). A few years later it was only half finished when I found a Star Wars group, just what I had been looking for all my life! It so happened that many of the members of that group were also members of various pirate groups at the Colorado ren faire. BINGO! I finally found a happy use for my half-made costumes (and I had aquired some pirate boots by then, too!). I decided to make a captain's coat early on, but couldn't find a good pattern to even convert. Until....
"Pirates of the Carribean" came out at about the same time I started going to the CO ren faire. All of a sudden, Elizabethan costumes were out and Colonial and Italian dress were at the forefront. Yipeee! I could finish and actually wear my blue/gold outfit! To my utter surprise, that same year Simplicity came out with the pirate's capt. coat! I think I was first in line for that one, or damn close to it! It took me a year, but I made mine out of black velveteen and silver braids/buttons. I still have to line it, but after three seasons of heavy use, only one sleeve braid is coming loose. It's been through heat, hail, rain, and a freak summer snowstorm. It's kept me warm and kept my skin from sunburning. It's been sort of my "pirate blankie". Because it's black, I was dubbed early on "Black Jack".
And the story continues....
Black Jack
